EuroleagueBasketball announced that it reached an agreement with the EuroLeague Players Association (ELPA) for the 2019-20 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague calendar.

Both organizations agreed to introduce changes requested by the ELPA that aim at improving players conditions to conduct their professional activity at the highest level:

• Regular Season Round 1 will take place one week earlier than usual, on October 3 and 4, 2019. Regular Season Round 34 will take place on April 9 and 10, 2020.
• The Playoffs will take place one week later than usual, between April 21 and May 6, 2020.
• The Final Four will take place one week later than usual, from May 21 to 24, 2020. These three changes will reduce the number of double-round weeks from nine to seven
• During two EuroLeague Regular Season double-round weeks, all teams will play in one home-home and in the other away-away. EuroleagueBasketball and the ELPA will analyze this calendar distribution at the end of the 2019-20 season. The other five double-round weeks will see teams playing home-away or away-home as has been occurring since the current EuroLeague Regular Season format was established in 2016-17

EuroleagueBasketball and the ELPA will continue their discussions on a broad number of topics with the objective of reaching a collective bargaining agreement that regulates the relationship between the league, the clubs and the players. The following topics are being analyzed by EuroleagueBasketball and its clubs following proposals from the ELPA:

• Improving the process for overdue salary payment disputes in order to increase security and minimize risk for players who find themselves in this situation.
• Regulating training camp and in-season practice load, ensuring adequate rest and recovery periods.
• Regulating player travel conditions.
• Improving the process for neutral second medical opinion services that were put in place October 2018.

“The relationship with the recently created EuroLeague Players Association has been very positive so far. Our clubs are confident that the ELPA proposals will lead to more stability and business security for the league, clubs and players. We look forward to continue working with the players to grow the EuroLeague collectively,” Eduard J. Scott, Chief Operations Officer at EuroleagueBasketball, said. “We maintain regular conversations and meetings in order to reach a consensus that increases the quality of our games, the conditions for our players, and therefore the attractiveness of the EuroLeague for our fans.”

“At ELPA we are very content that on our initiative, EuroleagueBasketballis implementing these important changes, which will lower players workload, lower the number of possible injuries, and increase the recovery time between games,” Bostjan Nachbar, ELPA Managing Director, said. “We are positive that additional improvements, which we are still finalizing and should be included in EuroLeague Bylaws this summer, will bring a very encouraging change of conditions for players within the league.”

About EuroleagueBasketballEuroleagueBasketball (EB) is a global leader in the sports and entertainment business, devoted to running the top European competitions of professional basketball clubs under a unique and innovative organizational model. Owned and administered by some of the most successful and historic clubs in the world, EB manages and organizes the continent’s two premier men’s basketball competitions, the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and the 7DAYS EuroCup, as well as the sport’s premier under-18 showcase, the EuroleagueBasketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament.

The EB competitions bring the elite of European basketball to all five continents and to the entire sports community through the OTT platform EuroLeague TV. EB also organizes a series of community and educational programs. Its ground-breaking corporate social responsibility program One Team features 40 clubs that have already made a difference in the lives of over 16,000 participants. Its Sports Business MBA trains future professionals in sports management.

About the ELPA
ELPA aims to unite, represent, and assist EuroLeague players in achieving their goals, on and off the court. ELPA’s specific intention is to defend and pursue the rights of professional basketball players in the EuroLeague. Through Collective Bargaining with EuroleagueBasketball and the EuroLeague clubs, ELPA will seek to achieve a higher level of protection of players’ individual and collective rights and to improve the working conditions, economic benefits, and job security of all its members.
Furthermore, ELPA engages in organizational, financial, educational, and marketing activities which will advance the economic stability and security of its members. Through charity and personal development programs, ELPA strives to connect its members with the wider community.EuroLeague players expressed their support for the establishment of this important entity, which represents the players’ unified voice regarding Europe’s top basketball club competition.